Float



Sept. 4, 1923. 1,466,671 7 6 A. H. MORl FLOAT Filed Sent. 27 192i WITNESS. 6 l/INI/ENTOR flLBERT 140/?1 A TTORNE Y6 Patented Sept. 4, 1923.

' Amnesia: n, Mom, or esooxwhnawronn.

rom.

. q n pncaudn:aieuzss tembe 27, 1921." Serial No. 503,507.

. e To all whom :62? may concern:

:Be it known that I,1-Amsnn r 11. Mom, *a citizen of the United States, and resident of the borou hof Brooklymieounty' of Kings, city and tate of New Yorln'have invented certain new and useful. Improvements gin Floats, of which the following .is a specification. 7 1 V i q The invention relates to the production of floats having many advantageous qualities and particularly floats adapted (for use-in industrial appliances such, for *exainpi-a-as carbureters. My new floatlis suitable i or advantageous use under atmospheric :a's well as increased pressures; 'Heretofo're floats rave gen-erally been hollow since it was deemed essential for the purposesof achiev-- in'g'the necessary responsiveness to fluid levelthat WltllOlli/fi hollow core or center'a proper float could not be made. Where such floats were made'of metal alone'they were extremely expensive to construct; It has, therefore, been proposed to use a hollow core member of celluloid; or similar mate rial, upon the surface of which an electro= lytic deposit of metalwis allowed to take place. This method not construction, ale

' though advantageous from many aspects,

has'not proven to be the-final soluti-on of the problenr since floats thus made are, i necessarily to a certain extent fragile. There have, of course, also-been wooden floats and probably also wooden floats encased in a metal shell, of which the former are objectionable because of susceptibility to fluid influences and the latter because too sluggish.

Metal floats filled with cork have also been, used but here again the necessity of a special manufacture of the metal casing renders such a float very expensive.

It has long been recognized that the ideal.

form of float would be one consisting of a metal shell that was capable of being constructed with the least possible expense and which instead of being hollow, would con-- tain a filler completely occupying the interior of the metal shell without, however, to any substantial extent, 'decreasin floating sensitiveness of the metal shell. t was not, however, deemed possible to realize this condition because it was difficult to conceive how any such result could be achieved. I have now found that provided I employcertain particular and specific types of ligneous material and treat them in a certain way, I

aincapable-of producing the result that has thus far baifled the art.

-I have discovered inthat-type "of wood known as balsa wood, a material which is suflic ently low in 1 specific gravity to -otter material is -=capable of being turned 01 oth-- erwlse shaped to any desired configuration and when so shaped, to present a surface which is smooth and continuous as opposed, for example, to the irregular or recessed sur= face of cork 'or the like; Therbalsa wood, once it is properly shaped and smoothly surfaced, can readily be adapted to receive an electrolytic deposit of metal, such as copper but being soft and porous this special wood, when placed in an electrolytic bath, is likely to absorb moisture and thereby not only be'com'efdef'ective for the purposes for which I desire to use the same but also will gain in weight to such an extent as to ren= der it more or less useless .in connecti'onwith little and practically no sensible obstruction the construction of floats. I, consequently,

after preparing the balsa wood asto shape and surface, treat it with a waterproofing materially preferably of tlr'etygpe that is waterproofed balsa wood can be immersed in an electrolytic bath without danger of penetration of the wood by the moisturecontained in the bath and a deposit of copper ,can then readily be caused to be formed upon the waterproofed surface of the wood after the said surface has been treated in the usual way to adapt it for the reception of an electrolytic deposit. The metal deposited by electrolysis can be regulated with respect to any desired thickness of sheet or layer of enveloping metal. The accessories of a float can also be very easily dealt with since the wooden foundation affords an opportunity of using simple fastening appliances or methods. Thus if some particularfloat recally-deposited metal.

A float made in accordance with my invention possesses the full requisite buoyancy and. sensitiveness of a hollow metal float, is extremely inexpensive to manufacture and is really stronger and better than a hollow metal float because of the fact that the in- V terior is not gaseous but is solid. Furthermore, by reason'of the fact that theinterior of my float is completely filled, slight mechanical jars or blows do not have to be absorbed by the metal alone but can be transmitted throughout the whole float, thereby avoiding, except in extreme cases, the for mation of dents. Even where mechanical influences such as would make deep dents in a hollow metal float become operative on my float, the depression in th metal will be less accentuated and'less likely to cause rupture of the metal shell. I have found that balsa wood offers considerable resistance to a blow, so that if a shell surrounding the balsa wood were subjected to a jar or a blow, the balsa wood would resist the tendency of the shell to be indented. This appears to be a peculiar characteristic of balsa wood, forit has not heretofore been known that there was any ligneous substance having a specific gravity of approximately cork and at the same time resistinga deformation change as much as some of the harder woods. There are many other advantages which flow from procedure according to my invention.

The figure in the drawing is an elevation partly in section of the subject matter of the invention. In the drawing, a represents a float chamber of any usual type while 6 represents the means associated with the float chamber and subject to actuation according to the level of the fluid in the chamber so as to control operations outside of the float chamber; 0 is my new float shown as broken away at one point so as to exhibit interior construction, i. e., the balsa wood foundation d, the waterproofed surface thereofe and the electrolytically-deposited metal shell f.

lVhatI claim is:

1. The'combination of a float chamber, means associated therewith adapted to govern operations in accordance with conditions determined by the level of the fluid in said chamber,- and a float member arranged to cause actuation of said means, said float member comprising a ligneous element pos sessing the characteristics of balsa wood and having approximately the density of cork and the resistance to deformation of heavier woods, the ligneous element having a shell covering the same and composed of an electrolytically deposited metal.

2. The combination of a wood foundation member and a metal shell thereon, said metal-coated wood adapted to serve as a float member and constituted, with respect to the wood foundation, of wood of the balsa type having approximately the densityvof cork and the resistence to deformation of woods heavier thancork and waterproofed as to its surface, and, with respect to the metal shell, of an electrolytically-deposited sheet, deposited upon and in contact with the waterproofed surface of the wood base.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand. 7

ALBERT H. MORI. 

